Winter/Spring 2013 Winter/Spring 2013 Winter/Spring 2013 Dear Constituents, With the holidays behind us, I cer- tainly hope that each and every one of you is in good spirits, health and happiness. Like you, I had a won- derful time with my family and friends enjoying a time out from a busy schedule that has started since last January. Throughout this past year, I have visited all my schools, looking at all the needs of our students helping them to shine on the local, provincial, national and global stages. I’m thrilled by several of our parent councils, my newly elected PIAC representative, my French as a Second Language representatives, teachers, principals, parents, students, stakeholders and the community at large for all of their valuable contributions and in lending me their listening ears and advice to help make our community the hubs I’m slowly working on developing. We are a strong and vibrant community and I’ve seen that first-hand from the various contributions that have been given thus far. We have a remarkable student body and great volunteers who’ve helped us in several community works. These dedicated individuals are now busy working on a mission to take us through the next year. Our schools are not there yet in all the rebuilding, plans and structure, but Trustee David Smith is steadfast to keep construction programs and processes in place to restore and retrofit our schools to meet the needs of our JK-12 students in all of our schools. Over the past year, there have been a number of construction projects, and work is currently in progress at John McCrae to complete the school in time for new enrolment in September 2013. We also have a major project commencing in 2013 – the Bendale Thomson project – which is the amalgamation of Bendale BTI and David and Mary Thomson schools. I know that you are beginning to see many differences in the way your schools are looking in the community. As I have gone through the commencements and graduations from JK through to grade 12, it is always an exciting moment for me to see all the students as they gather together – the elemen- tary kids going into middle school, and the graduates from grade 12 as they cross the stage to receive their certificates, expressing their desire of higher achievement in attending university, colleges and apprenticeship programs. I want to thank the parents and guardians for their encourage- ment and dedication to their children’s growth and develop- ment in becoming who they are as they leave us to pursue post-secondary studies. I am extremely proud of the TDSB’s philosophy of teaching and learning, and the development skills of our students that will give them a clear head start in becoming successful adults. On behalf of myself, my family and staff, I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season and I wish to extend to you, your family, your friends and the community a Happy New Year. Thank you, Trustee David Smith 'Caring and Safe Schools' Ward 19 is an ac- �ve par�cipant in ‘Car- ing and Safe Schools’. Your Ward 19 team pro- vides direc�onal support to administrators, staff, parents, students and communi�es. Caring and Safe Schools are enabled through: 1.Strong school leader- ship, with consistent discipline policies and procedures; 2.School-wide safe and caring schools Programs and instruc- �onal components focused on inclusive contribu�ons; 3.Evolving and expanded preven�on based knowl- edge and skills; 4.Ongoing support and professional growth in emo�onal intelligence, conduct management, prevention oriented strategies, media- �on and violence preven�on; 5.Inclusive and devel- opmentally appropriate materials, ac�vi�es and programs are champi- oned and u�lized; 6. Strong efforts to develop rela�onships and partnerships within the en�re school com- munity ; 7.Clear assessment, evalua�on and monitor- ing of student perfor- mance, combined with differen�ated programming. For more informa�on, please do not hesitate to call my office or email me at david. [email protected]. Source:TDSB Web Remembrance Day – Lest We Forget - November 11, 2012 This Remembrance Day, Trustee David Smith joined Catch the Fire Toronto as their distinguished guest. Every seven years Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday, and 2012 was the year when churches across Canada remembered those we’ve lost in battle. I was in the company of many distinguished guests, including the keynote speaker for the day, Major General Bryan Stephenson (Retired). I would like to thank Sam Dumcum of Catch the Fire for including me in this important recognition ceremony for our veterans.
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Dawn ,OCTOBER 15 - NOVEMBER 5, 1999
Winter/Spring 2013Winter/Spring 2013Winter/Spring 2013
Dear Constituents,
With the holidays behind us, I cer-tainly hope that each and every one of you is in good spirits, health and happiness. Like you, I had a won-derful time with my family and friends enjoying a time out from a busy schedule that has started since last January. Throughout this past year, I have visited all my schools, looking at all the needs of our students helping them to shine on the local, provincial, national and global stages.
I’m thrilled by several of our parent councils, my newly elected PIAC representative, my French as a Second Language representatives, teachers, principals, parents, students, stakeholders and the community at large for all of their valuable contributions and in lending me their listening ears and advice to help make our community the hubs I’m slowly working on developing. We are a strong and vibrant community and I’ve seen that fi rst-hand from the various contributions that have been given thus far. We have a remarkable student body and great volunteers who’ve helped us in several community works. These dedicated individuals are now busy working on a mission to take us through the next year.
Our schools are not there yet in all the rebuilding, plans and structure, but Trustee David Smith is steadfast to keep construction programs and processes in place to restore and retrofi t our schools to meet the needs of our JK-12 students in all of our schools. Over the past year, there have been a number of construction projects, and
work is currently in progress at John McCrae to complete the school in time for new enrolment in September 2013. We also have a major project commencing in 2013 – the Bendale Thomson project – which is the amalgamation of Bendale BTI and David and Mary Thomson schools.
I know that you are beginning to see many differences in the way your schools are looking in the community. As I have gone through the commencements and graduations from JK through to grade 12, it is always an exciting moment for me to see all the students as they gather together – the elemen-tary kids going into middle school, and the graduates from grade 12 as they cross the stage to receive their certifi cates, expressing their desire of higher achievement in attending university, colleges and apprenticeship programs. I want to thank the parents and guardians for their encourage-ment and dedication to their children’s growth and develop-ment in becoming who they are as they leave us to pursue post-secondary studies. I am extremely proud of the TDSB’s philosophy of teaching and learning, and the development skills of our students that will give them a clear head start in becoming successful adults. On behalf of myself, my family and staff, I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season and I wish to extend to you, your family, your friends and the community a Happy New Year.Thank you,
Trustee David Smith
'Caring and Safe
Schools'
Ward 19 is an ac-� ve par� cipant in ‘Car-ing and Safe Schools’. Your Ward 19 team pro-vides direc� onal support to administrators, staff , parents, students and communi� es. Caring and Safe Schools are enabled through:
1.Strong school leader-ship, with consistent discipline policies and procedures;
2.School-wide safe and caring schools Programs and instruc-� onal components focused on inclusive contribu� ons;
3.Evolving and expanded preven� on based knowl-edge and skills;
4.Ongoing support and professional growth in emo� onal intelligence, conduct management, prevention oriented s t r a t e g i e s , m e d i a -� on and violence preven� on;
5.Inclusive and devel-opmentally appropriate materials, ac� vi� es and programs are champi-oned and u� lized;
6. Strong efforts to develop rela� onships and partnerships within the en� re school com-munity ;
7.Clear assessment, evalua� on and monitor-ing of student perfor-mance, combined with diff eren� ated programming. For more informa� on, please do not hesitate to call my office or email me at [email protected].
Source:TDSB Web
Remembrance Day – Lest We Forget - November 11, 2012
This Remembrance Day, Trustee David Smith joined Catch the Fire Toronto as their distinguished guest. Every seven years Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday, and 2012 was the year when
churches across Canada remembered those we’ve lost in battle.
I was in the company of many distinguished guests, including the keynote speaker for the day, Major General Bryan Stephenson (Retired). I would like to thank Sam Dumcum of Catch the Fire
for including me in this important recognition ceremony for our veterans.
Homework Help for
Grades 7-12
An exciting online resource is now available to all grade 7-12 students and families in the TDSB. Offered by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with TVO and the Independent Learn-ing Centre, Homework Help provides grade 7-12 students with free, live on-line tutoring Sunday-Thurs-day from 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Students in grades 7-12 can log in using their Ontario Education Number (OEN), which appears at the top of their report card. Parents, teachers and other students can also log in as guests.
Tecumseh Senior Public School – At the Forefront of Community Engagement
Trustee David Smith would like to recognize the efforts of Principal Terry Singh in bringing about extraordinary engage-ment between Tecumseh students, teachers, parents, caregiv-ers and community leaders. From enforcing administrative processes to increasing vis-ibility of the school and increasing interest and attendance of parents to school council gatherings, good things are happen-ing in this senior public school. I would like to join Mr. Singh in thanking staff past and present for their continued commitment to increasing student achievement and instilling universally-held values by engaging parents and the community.
Woburn – 'Sounds of Spring' – My staff had the pleasure of attending Woburn’s Spring Music Concert, ‘Sounds of Spring’ on May 1. From the choir’s opening number ‘What a Wonderful World’ to the Henry Hudson Band’s ‘Old McDonald Had a Band’ (complete with cowbell!) to the very moving wind ensemble arrangement of ‘Invictus’ (a most ambitious piece), these talented musicians had the audience fully engaged throughout the entire evening. Thanks to Mr. Brian Farrow and Ms. May Hao of Woburn’s music staff, for it is clear that under their leadership, a tremendous amount of work, rehearsal and behind-the-scenes energy went into this one extraordinary night.
CASSA NITE May 12,2012 My colleague, Novlette Mitchell, attended the Council of Agen-cies Serving South Asians (CASSA) Heritage Month Gala Evening this past May. Under this year’s theme, ‘Our Stories...Our Histories...’ guests experienced an evening of speeches and vocal and dance perfor-mances that demonstrated the struggles, resistances, resilience and victories of South Asians living in Canada.Of note was a particularly compelling keynote speech by Bhai-ravi Desai, co-founder and executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). For over a decade, Bhairavi has fought to empower one of the most vulnerable and visible immigrant workforces in the city of New York, and through her stories, we learned of the hardships and victories and just how universally relevant they are to many of us.Excellences in Equity Awards were presented to seven deserv-ing South Asian Canadians for their outstanding contribution in social and economic justice. For more information, go to www.cassa.on.ca.
I would like to bring to your attention the work of a great program called Read2Rap. The Read2Rap Program is a leadership literacy program that encourages youth to embrace reading, learning, teamwork and performing through Rap and Hip Hop. As a result of several meet-ings with Read2Rap’s founder, Roger Thompson, it is my hope to bring this program to our schools for stu-dents interested in expressing themselves through this initiative. Cedarbrae C.I. is currently serving as our first ‘test’ school. For further information, please contact me or visit www.read2rap.com.
Summer job program
I am very pleased with those students who took time out this past summer to develop their job skills and work experience through the very successful Focus on Youth summer student job program. This program never fails to provide our students with terrific opportunities to gain knowledge and perspective of what goes on in the work-ing world, and serves to empower these bright students as they begin making important adult decisions about their future. I urge all students to consider this program. Please remember to register early for next summer.
Model Schools for Inner Cities –
Model Schools Cluster Committee, meet monthly with other trustees, superintendents, principals, community support workers and community members to plan how to carry out the Model Schools for Inner Cities vision, driving change by giving our inner city school communities a strong voice.
Did you know that several TDSB documents for parents have been translated centrally and are posted on h�p://tdsbweb/? Just click on ‘Translations’ in the drop-down ‘Services’ search field at the top of the web page. Such central docu-ments are translated into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Read2Rap Graduations, fun fare...
ECO Schools
I am proud to report that 35 of the 38 schools in Ward 19 are cer�fied ECO Schools. How did they achieve this? Each has sa�sfied the criteria as set out in the Cer�fica�on Guide and Planner, using a special toolkit that leads the school through exer-cises and studies in the following categories: Foster Leadership and TeamworkEnergy Conserva�onWaste Minimiza�onVibrant School GroundsStudent Achievement through Ecological LiteracyHealthy, Safe and Caring School Communi�es. Two of our schools, Bellmere P.S. and Cedarbrae C.I., will serve as demonstra�on schools in the coming school year and will share best prac�ces in organiz-ing and running an ECO Schools Program.
Traffic Concerns Woburn Collegiate has been the site of traffic congestion in and out of the main driveway off of Ellesmere for some time. Cars and people are constantly vying for space and maneuver-ability to access not only the schools, but the church and community centre as well, as all three venues must use one single roadway to enter and exit. I am working tirelessly with the city and the school to see what can be done to ease this congestion and hopefully correct this design in order to avoid any fur-ther potential risk. I will keep you informed
on developments.
Fun at the Fun Fair
Farewells and welcomeAt the end of the school year, we said goodbye and best wishes to our hard working and dedicated principals, super-intendents and community leaders who retired or departed
the TDSB. They are:Don McLean – Superintendent of Education School Services SE2Margaret Ristich – Principal, Tecumseh Senior Public SchoolNadine Segal – Superintendent of Education SE3Laura Sommerville – Principal, Charles Gordon Senior Public SchoolMicky Tabak – Principal, Dorset Park Public SchoolVickie Venedam-Vaccaro – Principal, Glen Ravine Junior Public School PIAC Ward 19 Representatives – Thank you to Leah Yuyi-tung and Cindy Lam for their dedication and attention while serving for us at the negotiation table for Ward 19.With departures of these dedicated individuals, we haveNew arrivals! I would like to welcome the following administrators to their new roles:Ian Bain - Vice Principal, Wexford C.S.A.Linda De Medeiros - Principal, Buchanan Public SchoolCathryn Dockstader – Principal, Charles Gordon Senior Pub-lic SchoolNicholas English – Vice Principal, David and Mary Thomson CIBessie Kambouris – Vice Principal, Churchill Heights Public SchoolAndrea Lane - Vice Principal, Ionview Public SchoolAndy Lubczynski - Principal, Dorset Park Public SchoolViolet Mari – Principal, Willow Park Junior Public SchoolElizabeth Mayhew – Vice Principal, Woburn CIAudley Salmon – Principal, Cedarbrae CITerry Singh – Principal, Tecumseh Senior Public SchoolEffie Stathopoulos - Vice Principal, Wexford Public SchoolDemitra Zervas – Principal, Glen Ravine Junior Public School.
TDSB Excellence Awards – May 8, 2012
We were excited to attend this year’s TDSB Excellence Awards this past May. The 19 winning individuals and groups received their awards in front of an appreciative crowd filled with trustees, superintendents, principals, teachers, staff and family members, among them two Ward 19 school staff members, Melissa Seco, a teacher at Maryvale P.S., and Frances Potvin-Schafer, a teacher-librarian from Edgewood P.S. Congratulations to all TDSB Excellence Award winners!
Leonard Braithwaite School Now Open!Africentric Courses also
offered
Leonard Braithwaite School, hosted by Winston Churchill Col-legiate, is now open! This province-approved program is of-fered to grade 9 students as an opportunity to learn through an Africentric lens for six out of their eight courses. The pro-
gram is also expected to expand into grade 10 through 12.Named a�er Ontario’s first black member of provincial parlia-ment, students are taught the same topics as other Toronto youth, but their courses use examples of black inventors, art-ists and poli�cal figures. For more informa�on, contact the school’s Guidance Department at 416-396-6883 ext.20040.
Applica�ons are s�ll being accepted and must be received by Friday February 1, 2013 for the 2013-2014 school year.
On June 30, I had the pleasure of hos�ng a get together for our extraordinary volunteer force. These dedicated individuals work �relessly throughout the year to support me in Ward 19. Whether it’s distribu�ng community newsle�ers, organizing and suppor�ng ward forums, filing or flipping burgers at the Fun Fair, their work never goes unno�ced. – thank you all again!
Become a volunteerJoin my volunteer force and help
make a difference!Please contact me for more details:
David Smith, TrusteeWard 19, Scarborough CentreToronto District School Board
Constituency Office – 140 Borough Drive, 1st Floor
Scarborough, Ontario M1P 4N6 Telephone: 416-397-3104 Email:
A Library for Scarborough Civic CentreWe are well on our way to creating a wonderful addition of a library at the Scarborough Civic Centre. Councillor De Baeremaeker and I, along with the Toronto Public Library and other key city part-ners, planners and designers, are very pleased with the progress we have made to bring the plans for this library to life. Once we have a date set for our community ground-breaking, we plan to involve you at the various stages of development, and you will be able to tour the construction site and begin to see the vision behind this great structure. Those of you who have lived in the area for some time will know that this is the first such undertaking of a new library construction in almost 30 years. We know you will join us in celebrating this important milestone in our community!
Bendale Thomson Update I a�ended a mee�ng whereby architect and design firms presented the TDSB, Toronto Lands Corpora�on and Bendale BTI and David and Mary Thomson schools with their design concepts for the new joint school. The decis ion of this task to choose just one f irm is very difficult given the extraordinary creativity and innova-t ion many of these companies have brought forward. Our final decision will be based on a rigorous set of criteria de-signed to best serve our students and the community. The name of the recommended firm has been taken to the board for ap-proval, and as soon as this passes, we will advise you of the details. The effect of this new school construc�on will be significant. To that end, I have appointed members of the community to review with us the architectural and planning design dra�s for what the school should look like. Stay tuned for more announcements regarding this project.
PIAC-Parent Involve-
ment AdvisoryCommittee
One of the most important organiza�ons in our schools is the Parent Involvement Advisory Commi�ee (PIAC). PIAC’s mandate is to advise the TDSB on ma�ers related to parent and community involvement and to pro-vide feedback to the board on educa�onal ma�ers of broad community interest. I have appointed Mr. James Rycman as our new Ward 19 PIAC representa�ve. He has already demonstrated his passion as an involved par-ent and expressed interest in extending this involvement in Ward 19 beyond his home school. We wish Mr. Rycman well in his new role. Please feel free to reach out to him directly at [email protected] should you have any questions about PIAC or wish to be involved. For French as a second lan-guage, please contact our French Ward 19 PIAC repre-senta�ve, Ms. Cheryl Wilson at [email protected].
Nutrition Programs
On Monday October 1, TDSB administrators took part in a school nutri�on program bus tour in support of the Toronto Founda�on for Student Success. The bus tour enabled VIPs to spend a morning walk-ing in the shoes of hungry students. Tour guests were invited to fast prior to begin-ning their day, just as thou-sands of Toronto students are forced to do daily. VIPs traveled to three schools where they par�cipated in a school breakfast program and a secondary school nu-tri�on program managed under adult co-ordinator supervision by student/par-ent volunteers. Call 416-394-6880 to find out the many ways you can donate to this important support for student success.
Celebra�ng Ward 19Volunteers
50th Anniversary of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago
I am happy to announce that on the September 5, 2012 meeting of the Board of Trustees, it was declared that “October 1 to 7, 2012 be proclaimed Jamaican 50th Anniversary Week” and that “October 8 to 14, 2012 be proclaimed 50th Anniversary Week for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago” throughout the school district in celebration of both nation states’ 50th Anniversary of Independence. A brief curriculum resource was created to support Ad-ministrators, Staff, students and community partners to celebrate these two momentous occasions.
Dawn , January 7- January 21, 2000
This past fall, Trustee David Smith bid a fond farewell and good luck to our graduating grade 12 students at several commencements. These included Woburn Colle-giate (October 5), Wex-ford CSA (October 19), Cedarbrae C.I. (October 26), Bendale BTI (No-vember 2), David and Mary Thomson (No-vember 2), and Winston Churchill C.I. (Novem-ber 2). I am extremely proud of the achievements of our seniors and invite them to visit my office and share their stories about life after graduation.
Knob Hill Public School Wins ‘Kids Can Clean’ Toronto Contest 2012
On June, 14, 2012, I had the pleasure of attending Knob Hill Public School where the school was awarded first prize in Mayor Rob Ford’s Kids Can Clean Contest. Congratulations to Principal Sharon White and her staff, along with the Kindergarten students who demonstrated with amazing creativity their ‘Our Job is to Save the Earth’ campaign. Knob Hill was awarded a cheque for $3000, generously donated by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, to further their school’s green initiatives, as well as a pizza party for the whole school, cour-
tesy of Pizza Pizza.
It was a great pleasure to at-tend 32 of the 38 elementary, junior and senior graduation ceremonies in Ward 19 this past June. I was pleased to be able to be involved in the graduation ceremonies and bring greet-ings from the board and wish students well on the next steps in their education journey. Ward 19, Scarborough Centre is a very large and active ward comprised of 38 schools under my jurisdiction as trustee. I can tell you first hand that there isn’t a principal among these schools that doesn’t believe that their school and students are of the highest caliber they’ve seen in recent memory. Pride runs deep in Ward 19.
2nd Annual Ward 19 Fun Fair
On Saturday June 23, I was pleased to see many smiling faces at my 2nd Annual Ward 19 Community Fun Fair, held at Ellesmere-Statton Public School. At the fair, I was hon-oured to present a number of de-serving students with the Trustee David Smith Excellency Award. This award is given to students chosen by their school who have shown exemplary performances in the areas of academics, most-improved, sports, character building and leadership. Con-gratulations to all the winners!
In addition to the awards, there were several fun free activities for all those in attendance, in-cluding bouncing castles, musi-cians and games. We also wel-comed several guests from local community services, including Toronto Fire, Toronto Police Services and the CNE Street
Team. I wish to thank all of you for joining me that day, and also give special thanks to the many volunteers, schools, Parent Ad-visory Councils, parents, care-givers, students, caretakers and community stakeholders for their collective, cohesive in-volvement in helping to make this a very successful school
year.
TRUSTEEAny item on a Board agendaBoard policies under reviewBoard budgetIssues in the communityNews reportsIdeas for new board initiativesCollective bargaining issuesIntergovernmental affairsTRUSTEE DAVID SMITH140 Borough Dr., Toronto, ON M1P 4N65050 Yonge St., 5th FL, Toronto, ON M2N [email protected]: @trusteesmithFacebook: [email protected] DISTRICT SCHOOL [email protected] Contents accurate as of time of writing
CLASSROOM TEACHERAny issue pertaining to the classroomClassroom consequencesHomework or assignments
SCHOOL PRINCIPALAny issue pertaining to individual schoolStudent registrationStudent schedulesSchool council issuesStudent suspensionsReport card concernsTeacher conductSchool safety and securitySchool Code of BehaviourSchool budget and fundraisingSCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTAlternate attendance requestsSuspension appeals
Transportation Office416-394-6163
Kindergarten Office416-394-7439
English as a Second Language416-394-7330
French Immersion416-394-6806
Special Education Office416-396-7968416-396-9003
Nutrition Programs416-394-2115
Safe and Caring Schools416 395-SAFE (7233)
WHO TO ADDRESS AND WHEN
My first ward forum of the 2012/13 school year was held November 8 at Wexford Public School. The theme was, “How We Are Meeting the Needs of Our Students of Today.” My featured guest speak-ers were: Jim Spyropoulos, Coordinating Superin-tendent; Sandra Best, Alternative Schools Liaison Development Manager TDSB/Director, Strategic Planning and Communications TFSS; and Nadira Persaud, Superintendent. The next ward forum will be held in January 2013 and is a perfect opportunity to learn first-hand about the initiatives that affect
our schools, your children and our community.
Ward 19 Forum
Graduates in Ward 19Congratulations...
Trustee Smith with some graduates
Trustee David Smith at gradua�on ceremony.
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